French Wine

Tasting Burgundy: Unity in Diversity

April 19, 2011 By Shea 4 Comments

Wine is always in some way polysemic – in that it can mean many different things to many different people – but there is probably no other region that unites and divides drinkers so dramatically as Burgundy. It unites in that everyone and anyone who is drawn to its ancient soils agrees that its magic lies in its multivalent personalities. It divides in that this multivalence carries over to any attempt to agree on the meaning of it all. It was in this spirit of divisive unity that I attended a recent dinner hosted by the generous Rasoul Salehi focused on the red Premier and Grand Cru wines of France’s most enigmatic wine region.

Burgundian Idolatry

Burgundy is as rife with eidolons as it is with idols. The greatest bottles can often come from unexpected places while the greatest names can often disappoint. Tasting these wines blind assists in unmasking the pretences with which we approach the storied names and reputations in wine. It was one of Sid Cross’ wines that fully expressed this principle of Burgundy at the tasting. The last wine of the tasting – a Domaine Thomas-Moillard Clos Vougeot 1990 – was also my favourite and a high point for many of the other tasters. The blind? Well, it was that Clos Vougeot is often an unexciting Grand Cru but that here, from a producer with no recognition within our group, it offered perhaps the most complete Burgundy experience of the entire tasting.

Burgundy’s Modernity

One of the most discussed preconceptions in the wine world as a whole is what constitutes traditional wine versus what constitutes modern wine. This can extend from wine growing practices to techniques in the cellar and the prevalence of particular flavours. Such it was that the wine I brought – the Dominique Laurent Clos des Mouches Premier Cru 2006 – stimulated comments and questions about the wine’s sweetness and use of oak while at the same time recognition of its quality, and by some tasters, recognition of its Burgundian backbone. This is just the sort of wine that divides palates while at the same time offering undeniable quality. Dominique Laurent uses considerable oak (often 200%) in his wines, but he also adds almost no sulphur, does not fine and hand bottles. He seeks out old vines and old clones (though he owns no vineyards of his own), making him one of the most unique Negociants in Burgundy.

Diverse but Delicious

While many will warn that it is easier to find a bad bottle of Burgundy than a good one, Burgundy’s diversity is also one of its strengths. At the tasting we experienced a range of wines from the forward and fruity Domaine Fourrier Morey St-Denis Clos Solon Vielle Vigne 2006 that Jake contributed, or the darkly fruited Bruno Clair Vosne-Romanee “Les Champs Perdrix” 1er Cru.

Bachelet’s Gevrey-Chambertin “les Corbeaux” 1er Cru Vieilles Vignes 2007 was a lean but stylish wine with amazing aromatics – both pretty and compelling. There was a beautiful spicyness that coupled with a mineral (chalky) density much appreciated by most of the tasters.

Surprises also came from the compellingly delicious Drouhin Beaune Premier Cru 2002 (a wine blended from several vineyards), that showed exceptional harmony and finesse unexpected for a blended vineyard wine from a Negociant.

Wine and Metaphor

Sometimes though reputation and history is based on reality and sometimes Grand Cru is, well, Grand Cru. The flight of two Clos de La Roche Grand Cru’s (a 1999 from Louis Remy and a 2001 from the renowned Armand Rousseau) were a huge step up from the previous wines in elegance, complexity, balance, depth, and most of all, that enigmatic joy that only the best Burgundies can produce. My notes for the Remy read: “has that amazing ‘something’ that you look for in a great Burgundy … There is something here that compels you to attend it”. For the Rousseau I noted “you look into the abyss of time when you drink this … serious authenticity of fruit.” With wines such as these Burgundy compels us to reach beyond the staid objective descriptors so many wine professionals are trained to use and into what seems far more appropriate for the task: metaphor. Of course, in the end, all wine tasting notes are metaphors for the experiences we cannot describe in language. It is the special uniquness of Burgundy that compels us to recognize this unbridgeable gap.

Several of these wines are available at Marquis. Otherwise much of the tasting consisted of bottles brought back from the United States.

Filed Under: French Wine, Pinot Noir, Tastings

A Tale of Two Roties: Francois Villard’s Le Gallet Blanc 2004 and 2005

April 5, 2011 By Shea Leave a Comment

Francois Villard is a newcomer and a modernist in the Rhone Valley, and has been an exciting addition to the Northern Rhone. Villard is also one of the new breed of Northern Rhone producer that is happy establishing an open relationship with the United States, both respecting U.S. Rhone producers and brining his wines into the U.S. market aggressively. For some this sort of relationship with the U.S. can be both a blessing and a curse. It is great to get more exposure for the Northern Rhone and the potential for cooler climate Syrah in California and Washington; however, Parker and the U.S. critics’ influence on Syrah has been largely towards overextraction and high alcohol, two things that the Northern Rhone does not do well and that obscure its amazing terroir. Luckily Villard successfully combines modernism and a view to America with respect for tradition.

I’ve had and very much enjoyed Villard’s Condrieu’s before, which are quite opulent, though never over the top. These two reds, however, were much more elegant and suggested a growing sophistication in Villard’s approach.

The 2004 Le Gallet Blanc was the more immediately accessible of the two vintages, offering black fruits, olives, game and a good punch of rich extract but well integrated acidity. I thought it was easy to drink and showing really well right now. Very Good+. $75 ($45 on sale) at Marquis Wine Cellars.

The 2005 Le Gallet Blanc, however, showed how Villard is starting to craft truly elegant and age worthy wines. While you can drink this wine now, that would be a shame given its perfect aging potential. Some wines get a free pass by critics claiming that they need age but that are utterly unenjoyable in their youth and that don’t actually offer the balance to go the distance. The 2005 Gallet Blanc, on the other hand, clearly is very well balanced, has great fruit and even though the tannins are firm, they are ripe and destined to resolve amazingly well. This is an outstanding wine for cellaring and would be perfect to revisit in 5-10 years, depending on how much fruit you like. There are fantastic underlying characteristics of smoke, bramble, and fresh picante olives. The fruit is pure blackberry. Excellent $75 ($48 on sale) at Marquis Wine Cellar

Filed Under: $60+, Excellent, French Wine, Syrah, Very Good

Spotlight on Alsace: Albert Mann Rosenberg Riesling 2008

April 4, 2011 By Shea Leave a Comment

This is my kind of riesling. It seems that superb fruit isn’t limited to the Grand Crus. That, of course, also means that this Rosenberg riesling is a very good price. So far the Albert Mann wines have been a bit inconsistent in quality, more based on their balance than on the quality of fruit, but this riesling stands out not only as very well balanced and tasty, but also adept at pairing very well with a wide variety of foods. I paired it very successfully with brie, crab and asparagus stuffed coho salmon along with honey and mint glazed baby potatoes.

Rosenberg is a young vineyard, with less pedigree than the greatest sites, which tend to be Grand Crus. Nonetheless, it seems to offer tremendous potential, giving wines of sweet fruit and clean minerality. The wines tend to have a small amount of residual sugar, which is definitely present in this still fairly dry riesling. I personally find this balances the wine much better than some of Mann’s other rieslings.

I’ll conclude this short note by saying this is a very accessible wine that would be a great introduction to high quality Alsatian wine. I highly recommend it to both Alsace lovers and those looking to begin exploring what the region has to offer.

Excellent
$45 at Marquis Wine Cellars

Filed Under: $40-$60, Alsace, Excellent, French Wine, Riesling

Spotlight on Alsace: Marc Tempe Rodelsberg 2005

March 29, 2011 By Shea Leave a Comment

There is an irony to be found in Alsace in the wines of Marc Tempe. Tempe has signed on fully to Nicolas Joly’s Rennaissance des Appellations group that supports an intense kind of biodynamics with a high level of commitment. The irony comes with the similarity of Tempe’s wines to those of Marcel Deiss, which seem the closest in Alsace in spirit, if not in stated philosophy. Deiss, remember, has famously declared that he detests Nicolas Joly for his dogmatic adherence to biodynamics. Detestation and degustation are closely related it seems.

Blended Goodness

Tempe is a fan of blending, like Deiss, and this particular wine blends 25% Pinot Gris in with 75% Gewurztraminer. Tempe also ferments his wines in oak, on the lees of indigenous yeasts and without sulpher. The result here is both extremely impressive and extremely interesting.

The nose has a nice rich richness with flowers and rich tropical fruit, undoubtedly from the Gewurztraminer – but it also isn’t oppressive in its opulence like 100% Gewurztraminer can be. The palate presents banana and pineapple, is very juicy and exceptionally balanced. The wine finishes dry and extremely delicious with a bit of chalky minerality that rounds it out well.

This unique blended wine is better than most Gewrztraminer and Pinot Gris as you find them on their own in Alsace as it draws very well from the strengths of both grapes while minimizing their weaknesses. Tempe is a great winemaker doing untraditional things. If you like a lot of character in your wines but prefer them on the drier side then tempe may be for you. It helps that Tempe seems surprisingly atempo with Deiss, who should theoretically be his arch enemy.

Excellent
$55 at Everything Wine

Filed Under: $40-$60, Alsace, Excellent, French Wine, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris/Grigio

Spotlight on Alsace: Domaine Albert Mann Riesling Schlossberg Grand Cru 2008

March 25, 2011 By Shea Leave a Comment

It is once one enters the realm of Riesling that Alsace becomes truly exceptional. There is so much variation in style when it comes to Riesling that it is hard to know what you are getting if you pick up a random bottle. Alsace is a region where it pays off particularly well to do your research.

Uniquely Dry, but Overly Simple

Albert Mann’s Schlossberg Riesling is distinctly unlike the Rieslings made from the same vineyard by Domaine Weinbach. This is a lean and linear Riesling with pretty much no residual sugar.

In some ways this wine may be too austere, with its linearity left unassisted by a lack of complexity and a short finish. That said, this wine is juicy and fresh, clean and flavourful. I remain offput by what I feel to be a lack of character for a Grand Cru site, especially one with underlying Granite that tends to add superb richness and depth and where Weinbach makes serious and otherworldly wines from the same grape.

I suppose the classic line would be to call this too young, which is perhaps true, but only to a limited extent. I do not expect this wine to gain tremendously with age, but rather to soften. This will be a good thing, but it doesn’t live up to the pedigree. The wine remains a fascinating example of the diversity of styles in Alsace and most would likely be hard pressed to guess the origins of this wine blind.

Very Good
$45 at Marquis

Filed Under: $40-$60, Alsace, French Wine, Riesling, Very Good

Spotlight on Alsace: Domaine Ostertag Heissenberg Riesling 2005

March 22, 2011 By Shea 2 Comments

Ostertag is nothing if not opinionated. As a man who is not afraid to say “I detest Nicholas Joly” one might be surprised to learn that Ostertag is a strong proponent of biodynamics. However, he uses it as a tool rather than as an end in itself. Ostertag’s criticism of Joly is that he is too intellectual and too much of a ‘guru’ for biodynamics, which is merely a tool to serve terroir, which is the only necessary precursor to great wine.

Oaked Alsace

Ostertag is also a radical. He is one of the few winemakers in Alsace to embrace the use of Oak, which is understandable since he studied winemaking with Lafon in Burgundy. Most of his burgundy variety wines (like Pinot Gris and Blanc) are oaked, as is this Riesling. However, oak is not meant as a palliative for bad grapes or for poor winemaking. Rather, Ostertag’s use of oak is one of the most fascinating in all of France as you would be hard pressed to detect its influence and yet it seems to add a depth and complexity to his wines that many of his fellows do not share. In any case it is certain that Ostertag’s wines are distinctive and amongst the absolute best in the region.

In a poetic gesture, Ostertag divides his wines into three “series” – a fruit series, a stone series and a time series. This Riesling falls under the stone series. For the curious, the time series comprises his late harvest wines that have the reputation of being truly age worthy.

Sophisticated Minerality

This wine was surprisingly far leaner than I expected, which is likely due to the fact that Ostertag ferments most of his wines completely dry. The nose had lemon, lots of stone and a hint of dill (which is perhaps the one element I detected from the oak influence). The palate is lighter bodied than the Rieslings from Weinbach or Zind-Humbrecht, but it also has an absolutely incredible minerality that explodes on the mid-palate in cascades of complex stone, iron and clay-like elements.

The finish is very dry and lean but the flavour is huge, sophisticated and extremely unique. This wine will shock many who are used to the bolder and richer Rieslings from Alsace. I find this interesting given comments I’ve read about the 2004 Heissenberg, which is supposedly richer and more honeyed than this 05. Is this effect purely vintage or is it also a factor of age?

This wine is a perfect example of why Riesling is Alsace’s greatest grape.

Excellent
$58 at Everything Wine

Filed Under: $40-$60, Alsace, Excellent, French Wine, Riesling

Spotlight on Alsace: Marcel Deiss Pinot Blanc Bergheim 2005

March 19, 2011 By Shea Leave a Comment

Jean-Michel Deiss is a poet amongst poets. He articulates his philosophy of the vine with such grace that it is hard not to be drawn into his passion. For Deiss Alsace has been robbed of its memory by history. Yet the contingencies that led to the muting of Alsace’s diverse geologies and many terroirs in the past is now giving way to efforts from Alsace’s greatest growers to learn what each place has to say. Deiss is at the forefront of this reemergence of memory from history and is one of the most daring and unconventional of the lot.

Blends or Single Varietal?

Deiss generally eschews the traditional varietal wines and fully embraces complantation. This means that Deiss likes to blend the grapes of several varieties that have come to grow together in the same vineyard. As such, this particular “Pinot Blanc” actually includes some chardonnay, which seems apropos since the varieties look very similar. Deiss’ approach seems to bring out a tremendous minerality in his wines, which is particularly evident in this Pinot Blanc which has a mineral streak uncommon for the variety.

Pinot Blanc is not generally understood to be one of the noble varieties and as such is generally not found in any of the Grand Cru sites in Alsace. This wine is an exception and as such the Pinot Blanc vines benefit from the Bergheim Grand Cru’s alkaline limy soils, which seem to have provided great spicyness and minerality here. Bergheim is also one of the northern most Grand Cru sites in the part of Alsace called “Haut-Rhin”. I’d like to attribute the wine’s dryness to the more northerly climate, but Alsace can produce outstanding lean and linear dry wines from almost any Grand Cru site. I think, rather, that it is Deiss’ winemaking and his blending that has made this wine so unique.

Pinot Blanc that Tastes Good

A subdued nose, which is typical for Pinot Blanc. However, with air this becomes surprisingly expressive, mostly of citrus. The palate is zesty and higher acidity than both the Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris grapes but the wine is also well balanced and nicely finessed. More than anything the wine tastes alive and has an exciting spicyness combined with minerality. I think this is fantastic wine that is extremely complex for the price point. It is also distinctive and unlike most Alsatian Pinot Blancs. That alone is worth the price of entry.

Excellent
$38 at Everything Wine

Filed Under: $30-$40, Alsace, Excellent, French Wine, Pinot Blanc

A Mikulski and Dettori Dinner

March 5, 2011 By Shea Leave a Comment

Last night I joined my buddy Sean from Vinifico for a little wine geek camaraderie over food. The evening featured two exciting producers well loved by many in the ‘natural wine’ crowd – a fitting preview to the larger ‘natural wine’ tasting I will be attending tonight and writing up soon after.

Mikulski

The first wine – Francois Mikulski’s Meursault 1er Cru Charmes 2005 – had a completeness and subtle exuberance that coupled the classic Meursault richness with more fruit expression. Mikulski (nephew to the famous producer Boillot), is a new entrant into Burgundy who leases all his land and is happy to mix modern techniques with tradition. That said, he uses an approach to vineyard management called La Lutte Raisonnee, which essentially only applies any treatments as a reaction to what is going on and for the most part never uses any preparations – rather, the focus is on microbial health and biodiversity in the vineyard. This approach is not as intensely fanatical as some so-called natural wine makers, but it is certainly producing outstanding results.

The wine’s delicious apple and lemon notes all got drawn together in a deep seem of minerality that really made this some exciting juice. I loved the wine because it wasn’t showy and didn’t really need to be – it was just really compelling and easy to drink. I was pretty amazed at how quickly we downed the bottle (along with some simply prepared scallops that I undercooked a little but still went really well with the wine), but that is surely the best indicator that a wine is seriously good. I’d rate this Excellent.

Dettori

The second wine – Dettori Tenores 2005 – was truly magnificent and very tasty with Sean’s boar prosciutto pizza. Pouring a hazy red, the sedimentation in this obviously unfiltered wine never settled but remained suspended in the wine for the duration of the evening. The sedminentation was completely unnoticeable when drinking however; and drink we did. The Tenores was a magnificent expression of Grenache, or Cannonau, as it is known in Sardinia, where this wine is from.

Allessandro Dettori is much more of an extremist than Mikulski, making wine at the whim of what the natural world gives him each year. He is decidedly non-interventionist in a real way, doing very little to the 100+ year old vines he tends. He tries very hard not to impose a particular philosophy on the wines he makes – but I am not so sure that is even possible with a man-made product such as wine. Non-intervention, in all its forms, is certainly a form of philosophy that translates into the wine. I do, however, always highly appreciate a respectful approach to agriculture, and Dettori is nothing but. All the wines are fermented in cement, an unconventional route for making the kind of serious Grenache based wines that he does – but the results speak for themselves.

The nose on the Tenores was so nuanced and floral I almost just wanted to smell the wine – luckily the urge to consume got the better of me. The palate had a gamey characteristic, but also very pretty ripe cherry fruit that was amazingly vibrant in a way I have never tasted in Grenache before. The wine also brought things down with earthy, rooty and mineral qualities that made me want to contemplate the wine endlessly as I was guzzling it. Its 16% alcohol was unnoticeable and the prettiness and lack of glyceral weight was all the more impressive for it. This is easily an Excellent+ wine for me – and perhaps the best Grenache I’ve ever had. Seek it out. Thanks to Sean for contributing the bottle.

Filed Under: Chardonnay, Excellent, French Wine, Grenache, Italian Wine

Alphonse Mellot Edmund 2006

March 1, 2011 By Shea Leave a Comment

Today’s simple note is to highlight a producer that quietly makes wine that lives up to the hype and prices of the famous region in which it is made: Sancerre. While the labels are modern and suggest flash and pizzazz, in the bottle are wines made from some of the only fully hand picked grapes in Sancerre. This particular wine is made from 60+ year old vines and is quite rich for a Loire Valley white – but the acidity balances the wine well.

I admire Mellot’s wines for their precision and obvious attention to detail. All of the grapes are of outstanding quality and this (his top Cuvee) has a combination of accessibility, pure exuberance and extreme structure that is uncommon in many white wines, particularly in Sancerre, which often leads to wines of either excessive exuberance overly austere structure.

On a limb I paired this with artichoke stuffed ravioli covered in pesto – which worked incredibly well.

These sell out pretty quickly when they arrive in Vancouver, so I advise you pick one up if you see it, it is well worth the money.

Excellent
~$80 at Marquis

Filed Under: $60+, Excellent, French Wine, Sauvignon Blanc

Spotlight on Alsace: Domaine Weinbach Pinot Gris Altenbourg Cuvee Laurence 2005

February 25, 2011 By Shea Leave a Comment

We are back to the ancient Clos du Capucins monastic site now owned by Domaine Weinbach, but this time looking at the intriguing Pinot Gris variety.

To Grand Cru or not to Grand Cru

Unlike the Furstentum Gewurztraminer I discussed earlier in this profile, this Pinot Gris is not from an official Grand Cru vineyard. Instead, it is grown in the lieu-dit of Altenbourg located at the base of the Furstentum vineyard. Sharing a similar soil profile of sandstone and marl over limestone and sandstone bedrock, Altenbourg is a lieu-dit to take seriously and Domaine Weinbach makes some fabulous wines with grapes grown there.

What’s With All the Label Variation?!

Let’s spend a moment deciphering Domaine Weinbach’s complex labeling system. At the bottom of the range we have the basic “reserve” series, which offer the best value. Despite their relative cheapness, this is by no means to say these wines are bad – they are, in fact, great and a good entry to Weinbach (which can often be extremely expensive). A step up is the Cuvee Theo series, sourced from the vineyard holdings at the Clos du Capucins. The Cuvee Catherine series confuses as there are both cheaper wines that come from non-Grand Cru sites and those which have a Grand Cru site listed on the label. These are the higher end wines in that series. The same goes for the Cuvee Laurence series. At the absolute top is a wine called Riesling Grand Cru Schlossberg Cuvée Ste Catherine L’Inedit, which is only produced in the very best vintages.

Was that confusing enough? If you’re still wrapping your head around all these names at the store, one simple rule to go by is the price. Higher prices reflect better vineyard sources. And, to make things more difficult, as we shall see in future posts in this profile, some producers eschew the whole Grand Cru system altogether and prefer to blend their grapes. Alsace certainly can be a confusing place for a wine novice to venture into. But letting the labels be a barrier to entry would be a huge mistake as the wines are truly some of the most unique and inspiring in the world.

A Gris to Remember

It’s almost laughable to think that Alsace used to be considered a region for blending. The Bordelais frequently used Alsatian juice to blend into their red wines (I wonder how THAT tasted!). Famously, as Alsace was the first region in France to see the phylloxera louse, the blending region of choice moved to Rioja. I suppose it’s only the contingencies of history that turn blending regions into some of the greatest in the world.

The nose on this beautiful wine offers classic spicyness along with nuts and guava and is concentrated while not being overwhelming (as compared to Gewurztraminer). This is rich, fascinating and compeling wine with an intense mid palate filled with tropical fruits like guava and pineapple. Sort of a tropical cocktail with a spicy edge that makes the wine feel less intense and sweet compared to Gewurztraminer. If you like intensity and power but don’t enjoy overdone residual sugar, Weinbach’s Pinot Gris is a great wine for you. Even though it has 22g/l of sugar, you don’t feel the sweetness is unbalanced given its great acidity and purity. The wine is texturally lush and a pleasure to drink with its great balance, as expected from Weinbach.

The only ‘caveat’ I’d offer is that while this is definitely better than the Mann Pinot Gris of the last post, the increase in quality is decidedly minimal when compared to the increase in price. I would definitely splurge for the higher Weinbach price for many of their wines, but this particular wine offers pause compared to some of the better value offerings such as Mann. That said, this sure is ridiculously delicious.

Excellent
$95 at Marquis

Filed Under: $60+, Alsace, Excellent, French Wine, Pinot Gris/Grigio